Most Popular Hitch Lock for Minivan

Been a Yakima user for some time. Last bike rack was the Doubledown 4. Great rack but with the newer bike frames having top bars in different shapes and sizes, putting bikes on the Doubledown was a challenge. Had to go to a platform rack. Holdup was the fit. Carries 2 kids bikes without issues as well as my 29” and 27.5”. It is big and heavy but is solid and stable. Just makes it so much easier to carry 4 bikes. Just did a 500 mile round trip drive with them and no issues. Built in security cables is a nice feature. I did change out the two SKS cores to match up with the others. I’ll need to replace the stabilizer pin’s holder. It’s make out of plastic and broke right when I pulled out the pin so the cable is just hanging now. If I had to do it again, I’d buy it again. etrailer has quick shipping and great customer service.

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The bike rack works extremely well and fairly easy to get two adult bikes and two kids bike. The rack can be a bit heavy if lifting all in one piece. I would recommend installing the base, then the add on. Bikes are stable and secured. The locking cable is just long enough to go throught the frame, but don't expect both tires to be locked. The only issue I had is the stablizer bold for the add on did not fit through the base rack. I called supprot and I am going to make the hole slightly larger so it will fit. Support was very knowledge and had heard of one other issue like mine so they noted my account. etrailer is great in customer support and deliver.

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When I ordered this rack, I was thinking " Wow, this is a lot of money for a bike rack." Now that its assembled and I loaded it with 4 bike's (don't ask me what the bike's cost) I'm thinking "Wow, this is a lot of bike rack for the money". Awesome product and customer service.

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This rack definitely has some pros and cons (as do most racks). A minor frustration is that despite ordering the rack and add-on at the same time, the keys don’t match so if locking three or more bikes you need two different keys (this has only really irritated me when it was raining). As other reviewers have mentioned, this thing is heavy. Neither my wife nor kids can lift it to put it on or get it off the car by themselves. The downside is that given the size of the rack it is not real convenient to just leave it on the car. When the rack is in the up position, it is impossible to get in the back so it is necessary to lower the rack each time you want to get in. The other downside is that the rack significantly cuts down on visibility when backing up. All that being said, the rack is rock solid and the bikes are very secure. The rack is great for extended trips. When loaded and tipped down, it is great to be able to open and access the back. The spacing of the bikes is great and I don’t have to spend 15 minutes figuring out how to slide four bikes in just the right spot to make them all fit as I did with my old rack. Best of all the bikes are only sustaining damage on the trail, not on the back of the car! Despite some minor annoyances, I highly recommend this rack. As for assembly, my 13 year old put it together by himself in about 20 minutes (I promised him i would include that fact).

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It is a good rack. Virtually no rattling full or not. I do not have any sideways photos. But, I do not see how you could get five adult mountain bikes on here. If you had a couple of more inches it won't be a problem. I would still recommend since it does tilt away from the car and locks to the hitch.

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etrailer customer service is top notch! Matt K saved my vacation trip when my original rack was back ordered. He helped me and walked through the options. I landed on this Thule rack and Matt helped fast track the rack, hitch, and cross bars in time for my families vacation. I had 4 bikes on this rack for its maiden voyage 10+ hours to the beach one way. My little guys bike is just plain to small for the rack but it fit my mountain bike, road bike (carbon), my wife’s road bike, and my daughters mountain bike no problems. Because of the long trip I took the pedals off to make my life easier but they fit with pedals too. Also cross bars are a must for odd frames like kids bikes and mountain bikes etc. I’m super happy with how easy the rack is to throw on and off and having no issues after 10 + hours of hwy drive time is a testament to the Thule brand. (Note all my other racks were Yakima before this one, I really like the Thule rack) Thanks again Matt! And the etrailer team, you will be my first stop for future needs. P.S. I never usually leave reviews, but these guys are good to go!

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I would strongly recommend NOT dealing with this company. My bike rack arrived very late and after delivery I realized it was not compatible with my bikes. I was looking for a six bike rack that could hold my family's bikes (2 adult + 4 small children's bikes) and this rack is very specific for ADULT MOUNTAIN BIKES ONLY. I did not realize this and called the customer service to initiate a return after having a hitch put onto my car. I was told I could not return. I was out over $1k and ended up giving this rack away on my local free cycle as it was NO value to me and took up space in my garage. I am not a bike expert just a mom with 4 small kiddos looking for ways to enable them to play outdoors, I would have appreciated a better product explanation up front so I understood this would not be a fit for my needs. I would have benefitted from better customer service. Suggest passing on this product/company.

Perfect rack! Easy to put together, bikes are easy to load up. I own a bike tour company and get compliments from my guests all the time about this rack. Getting ready to order another one next month.

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Great product, easy to set up and take down. Looking forward to taking our whole family out for a ride. Only thing to be aware of is if your using kids bikes or mountain bikes, you may need to purchase the adapters.

This is a junk system for an rv. Have to keep redoing codes every trip Don’t waste your money

Just an all around great bike rack. I have loaded four bikes and driven a decent amount of miles with no issues at all. I didn't even find it necessary to use the accessory cross bar that can be purchased separately. I did buy a couple of them just in case. I don't find it an issue if the bikes are not level with the ground when loaded. They are all well above the ground. I only wish I had purchased this from etrailer sooner.

So far so good. Easy to install on my 2in hitch, looks great and feels secure. I will need to but a few adapter bars for the family bikes but I'd recommend this one for sure. The adjustable locks are very convenient and the removable straps make it easy to slide bikes on and off the rack.

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So far I’ve just assembled it and took a quick test drive around the block. My initial thought is this thing is perfect. It’s super sturdy and easy to use. My only gripe and it’s not fault of the rack, but it’s heavy…

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If you've done any research or read any of the other comments on either this rack, or this seller...rest assured they really are as good as everyone says! I ordered my rack on around 4pm est on a Friday afternoon and within an hour I received an email that said they have shipped my product AND upgraded to priority shipping. Can't say enough positive things about the customer service! When the rack arrived, it took me a little over half an hour to get it set up. Probably would e been faster if I were even slightly mechanically inclined (or if didn't I didn't have to borrow a socket wrench from my neighbor). We finally had an opportunity to load up the bikes and head out for a ride today. As others have said, the first time you load up your bikes, it's kind of like a puzzle to get them situated. Took about 15 minutes. This rack is awesome! Very sturdy and the bikes were very secure. Only racks I have had in the past were rooftop fork mount racks. This is so much easier! On e we got to the trail (over an hour drive) getting the bikes off was a piece of cake. Afterwards, it was time to load them back up and it was less than 5 minutes to get them all on and ready to hit the road. There were other 4-bike racks on the website, but this one had enough great reviews that I felt comfortable making the purchase. After the fact, I'm very glad I did! I can't imagine the $800 rack can be that much better than this, and I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a 4-bike platform rack. I will definitely recommend this rack and etrailer.com to everyone I know.

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I've taken this rack all over New England on the front of my Dodge Ram 3500 pick up truck with a truck camper. I had no idea it was possible to love a bike rack so much. After one drive I didn't ever worry about it again. So nice that it locks up when I am camping or taking a quick stop for food on the road. So glad I bought it from etrailer. They totally help me pick the perfect rack for my challenging set up.

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Still very new, but what an awesome bike rack! Assembly was a snap and the rack is rock-solid when you secure it to the hitch receiver. etrailer was amazing too - excellent communication, price and fast, free delivery. Overall I am extremely happy with the rack and service!

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This bike rack is a tremendous value. Cheaper and just as good as comparable racks that cost twice as much. The rack has performed superbly. One caution: the manufacturer’s packaging is poorly designed, and insufficient to safely ship a 60+ pound bike rack. The steel parts of the rack shifted during transit and broke several molded plastic components. Saris’ customer service folks were excellent, and promptly sent replacements for the components that were broken in transit. The improper packaging was not etrailer’s fault. Saris should reengineer their packaging for this item.

This is great bike rack. It arrived fast and just in time for our trip in mid July. My husband and I put it together quickly, we looked at a [online] video for how to put it together and went by the instructions booklets. It took us under an hour to put it together. It is very simple to load and unload bikes on it and the bikes stayed stable throughout our 600 mile trip and back. So overall, I am very satisfied with this bike rack. Will now see how it holds up with time.

This bicycle rack seems very well built. It was easier to assemble compared to a different one we had, and sits very securely in the hitch when tightened down. We love that all the locking mechanisms are keyed the same.

Lets be honest, there are better looking racks. But I work at etrailer.com and can use pretty much any bike rack in the world. When it came time to go on an adventure race I chose this rack to get my teams bikes there. When we got home one of my team mates bought one because he was so impressed. When it came time to go on a 12 hour road trip with my family I chose the Hollywood. It is a star. Not a Marilyn Monroe, more of a Sylvester Stallone. The thing is solid and it works really well. It is heavy, but any 4 bike rack is going to be on the heavy side. The option to remove the 2 bike extension is nice because it makes the rack easier to handle when you only need 2 bikes. The antirattle knob snugs the rack up in the hitch super tight. Having the cable lock and hitch lock included and keyed the same makes it easy to lock the bikes up when you stop for dinner. The folding feature uses pins and clips instead of the switches found on some other racks. The pins and holes were a bit tough to get aligned at first. I had to ask my wife to lift up on the end of the rack just a hair to get the pin started. She got chain grease on her and I quickly learned that asking for her help was not a good solution to my pin alignment problem. So I grabbed my drill and a bit that was sized the same as the pin hole and cleaned out the holes. About one minute later the pin was sliding in and out perfectly and my wife will never get greasy again. In a nutshell this rack is not the lightest, not the easiest and not the prettiest, but I love it. It is easy enough to use that it is not a hassle, it locks to keep the bikes safe, is a great price for the features and it is solid, very solid. You can see in the pictures that I have used this rack extensively and it still is working great.

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Installation today was pretty straight forward. We had no problems. It may require two people to install the bike rack onto the hitch because it is pretty heavy. But, as a 41 yo woman I was able to attach the bike rack to the hitch by myself. We haven't used it yet to transport our bikes, but I imagine that will be seamless too.

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This is the best rack I’ve seen or used for being able to have full access to the trunk / back hatch of the vehicle. That said, it is very heavy and an awkward shape so storing it when not in use is no treat if you’re short on space. All in all, probably the best rack I’ve seen.

Here's what I love about it: It's super easy and secure to put the bikes on and off. Here's what I don't love: It's heavy and difficult to put on and off the car. It's large enough that when it's in the upright position, it blocks my tail lights, so I can't just leave it on the car always. Overall I do like the product, but I am willing to spend more to replace it with a different model which holds 2 bikes and expands to 4, so it will be easier/lighter to mount to the vehicle, and more reasonable to keep on all the time.

Excellent bike rack! Well packaged and very functional. However, the there is not a lock on the hitch pin. The pin threads in and then you insert a clip on the other side to secure it to the pigtail on the truck or RV. Anyone could come along and pull the clip, loosen the pin and run off with the rack and whatever bikes are on it. So, that would be the only detraction.

Truly grooving on my wife's new Swagman Chinook bike rack. She wanted to be able to transport her nice road bike easily without throwing it in the back of her car, and since a roof rack is out of the question, this Swagman model fit the bill perfectly. It arrived quickly on the anticipated date. Kudos to etrailer.com for the email updates to keep me informed of my purchase. Within one hour, it was installed on my wife's 2014 Mazda3 hatchback. The Swagman is heavy and solid, which is reassuring as it makes me feel confident that it will keep the bikes secure. It also makes me feel like I got my money's worth. A ratchet wrench and Phillip's head screwdriver were the only tools required for the easy install. I did my research before purchasing the Chinook model as I was also eyeballing a very similar Thule rack that was slightly more expensive. I spoke with an etrailer.com expert who gave me the lowdown on both models. Ultimately, the Swagman won out because it has a smaller 'footprint' while extended or folded up ... and also can tilt away from the car for easy access to the hatchback area. Very convenient! FYI: Mazda doesn't make a trailer hitch for the Mazda3 as it's a small car with a small engine and has no business towing anything. Thankfully, the Curt company makes an aftermarket frame and trailer hitch that fits the Mazda3 hatchback perfectly with no drilling. Stupidly, I purchased it from another online company thinking I was getting a good deal. Turns out etrailer.com had it for less with FREE shipping. Oh well ... live and learn. Now I know that etrailer.com is one-stop shopping for bike racks AND trailer hitches. (Full disclosure: I had the garage down the street install the frame as it's easier with a lift) Only snafu: the shipment contained an extra set of keys that I assumed was for the hitch bolt lock (there was also a set of keys on the bolt itself). I spent 15 minutes using those keys trying to figure out how to remove the lock from the bolt to install it on the hitch. The keys just wouldn't turn in the lock. I called etrailer.com and Kevin told me to try the other set of keys ... and they worked. So an extra set of keys came with it that did absolutely nothing ... weird! Obviously, I can't speak to the longevity and durability of the Swagman Chinook 2 Bike Platform Rack as I just installed it. What I can speak to is the sturdiness of it, the ease of the installation and my complete satisfaction with the good folks at etrailer.com.

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I ordered the Swagman Chinook 2 Bike Platform Rack on line from etrailer and so far have been very satisfied. The bike rack was delivered in less than a week. Unpacking the rack and assembly was fairly straightforward. I have read some reviews that complained the assembly instructions were a bit vague. I didn't have a problem but can see where others without a mechanical background get confused. The rack is very sturdy, but there is some side to side play in the tilt mechanism. I'm not sure this can be avoided with a rack that folds down. Installing the Curt trunk stabilizing strap takes most of the sway out of the rack. Installation is fairly easy and quick. It takes me 6 - 7 minutes to install the back on my hitch, and to install the bike and be ready to drive away. That seems reasonable to me. So far I've only loaded 1 bike. I've included pictures of my installation on a 2014 Mercedes Benz E350 sedan. Clearance between the bikes, the rack and the car are good. With the bike loaded in the inside, most forward position, I have 6" clearance between the pedal and the bumper. With the bike removed, the center support folded flat and the rack folded up in the storage position, I have 4" clearance between the closest part of the bike rack (the fold down hinge assembly) and the back bumper of the car. I am able to open the trunk of the car without removing the bikes or using the tilt feature, but I do have to remove the stabilizing strap first. Overall, I'm very pleased with the bike rack and think it will serve me much better than my old strap on rack. Since the weather has been cool since getting the bike carrier, I haven't taken any long trips to give it a real workout.

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This rack is perfect! eTrailer had it shipped and at my home in almost no time. I drove with it on the car today, and it was solid and secure. It's super easy to get on and off the hitch. I'm 5'1 and I was able to load the bike on with the ramp without a struggle. Thanks for the thorough video and comparison information. It made this purchase easy.

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I purchased the rack and receiver hitch a year ago. Installation of the rack was made simple with the installation video that was specific to my vehicle (2020 Honda Accord). Literally took less than an hour start to finish. Only tool that I needed to buy was a torque wrench, which was about 20 bucks. It did require a very small cut in the plastic bumper that was accomplished easily with a keyhole saw. There was no drilling or other significant issues. The rack itself is awesome! My wife and I have two Lectric XP3 bikes. They weigh about 65 pounds each with battery. When we travel I revome the batteries to save a bit of weight. I have made two cross country trips (over 6000 miles) with this rack and have never had an issue. Literally every gas stop or hotel stop someone asks me about the rack and bikes. It really is that nice. My wife usually scolds me because we lose a 1/2 hour of travel time each stop to visit with complete strangers:) The rack is easy to install and remove on the receiver hitch. The lockout feature works great and gives a great deal of peace of mind. The bikes are easy to load. I don't use it, but there is a ramp that could make loading the bikes easier if a person couldn't lift the bike onto the rack. There are two arms the lock onto the frame of the bikes similar to the receiver hitch. Once locked down the bikes will not move. I would recommend ordering the longer ratchet staps if you have fat tires. I think they cost around 20 bucks but the longer straps allow for a little more flexibility in arranging bikes on the rack. I would strongly recommend this product and this company.

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Received the product in good condition and install was quite straightforward. The rack is solid and the fact that all critical points allow for adjustment and tightening via knob vs needing tools is indeed a plus. It fits snugly in my receiver and tightens down for zero movement on our Subaru Ascent. I’ve yet to load bikes but I can already tell its much better than our previous Saris rack. There was only one install issue - make certain you place the right locking mechanism into the proper lock. I don’t know why but it uses two separate keys - and the single key lock is the one that goes into the hitch receiver knob - and the instructions were slightly ambiguous on cautioning for that. Overall it’s heavy duty and should last year’s.

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It is heavy, but if you want all of the options that this provides (4 bikes, swing away rack) it's great.

Works well for transporting two 29" wheeled mountain bikes. However, after one year it's starting to rust in several areas (see attached photos), and the front wheel arms are becoming increasingly difficult to raise and lower. Finally the locking cable is extremely rusty as you can see in the attached photo. I'm not sure how durable this rack will be long term.

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We have had this bike rack for one year and use it every week-end. My wife has a Trek e-bike (52 lbs) and I have a regular Trek hybrid (23 lbs). The rack is very sturdy and I have no issues driving at highway speeds, there is no movement of the bikes. Very easy to load and unload.

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So, one year in, this works well for the price. I have successfully hauled around 5 bikes a couple times now including a couple vacations. Bikes got there securely despite 4+ hours of driving at interstate speeds, including one harrowing stretch on bumpy roads with 70 mph speed limits (wow Texas, seriously?) where the car got significant amounts of "air" at random intervals. Getting the bikes on and off is still a major pain. I had to buy the adapter for 3 womens/children's bikes. My own full size mountain bike barely fits on, too, the pitch between the bars seems a bit challenging and requires me to contort the bike dramatically to get it on and off. If you are trying to actually get 5 bikes on here, figuring out the bike handle tetris game is not easy. Will take you a bit. It still takes me ~15 min to load 5 bikes up every time. On short trips I sometimes skip the tiedown through all the bike wheels and it's fine, although I wouldn't do it for long trips. My biggest regret here is not buying one where the rack will pivot out to allow access to the rear minivan hitch with the bikes attached -- this means this is the last thing to pack in the car and the first thing you unpack, every time on vacation. It requires planning and forethought. The rack does fold down nicely which we used extensively on vacation once the bikes were unpacked, just don't drive around that way. On my Honda minivan the bottom of this sags a bit when fully loaded with bikes, to the extent I scrape hard every time exiting my slightly inclined driveway. We found a few other low spots along our way, from restaurants to other businesses, that resulted in similar cringe-inducing moments. We drove it on the beach quite a bit, after a healthy wash with the pressure washer there is some mild rusting where the handles rotate, but the rack is otherwise in good shape.

Bought several bike racks and trailer hitches from etrailer. They followed up to make sure all was good. I would highly recommend buying from them. Good people and they care about the customer!

We love our RockyMounts BackStage Bike Rack. The fact that it can hold our two e-bikes and swings out for rear door access makes it perfect for vanlife. Service and communication from etrailer is outstanading!

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etrailer.com asked me for a review about 1 week after it arrived. A better review would be in about 6-12 months after delivery to allow me time to use and experience the rack. Disclosure: my review is just for the assembly and install. Assembly is not easy. I needed to go to the internet and look at photos. The instructions lack detail. So only 4 stars for assembly instructions. It seems like a good design. The included locks seem cheap - like why bother including. The hitch pin design seems to tighten down the rack so there should be minimal rattle and movement. The rack sits up relatively high, so it would be safer to lift heavier e-bikes with two people or use some type of field engineered ramp. Wish it was made in the US and I wish the country of original was fully disclosed in the etrailer.com description. Perhaps it is disclosed but I learned it was from china after it was delivered.

Check out my other review on the hidden hitch for a 2015 BMW 4 Series for the majority of the review, but this thing is great. Easy setup and install, does all the things it's supposed to do. Mounting and removing bikes is a snap with the included clips (big difference from some of the cheaper variants with nylon ratchet straps). Fits very snugly in my 2" receiver, and pretty solid on the highway and over bumpy roads.

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The rack itself is fantastic. Not too heavy, easy to attach to hitch, and very easy setup. The only real downside is if your bicycles don't have a standard frame, you'll need to buy the Yakima Tube Top Bike Adapter Bars (~$50 each) in order to be able to mount them on the rack. I will say that smaller bikes (for my 9 year old) can be a challenge to mount with larger bikes as you'll need to finagle the handle bars and such to get them to line up but once you do it a few times you figure it out.

My Kuat NV 2. Bike Rack is the best bike rack I have ever owned. It is excellent for electric bikes. Very easy to load bikes and holds bikes very securely.

This bike rack is built extremely good. It is solid and the bikes are easy to put on and off the rack. The reason for the 3 stars are the following. I purchased the 4 bike rack together. It comes in two seperate boxes one for the main unit and the other for the additonal two bike add on. However, even purchasing this as one unit the two units are keyed different. If I have 4 bikes on the rack and lock the bikes I have to have two different keys to unlock the bikes. Why? The main unit came with some scratches on it. However, I know that putting bikes on and off the unit will get scratched. It is disappointing to see the amount of money this bike rack cost to come already scratched. The other major issue with having the four bike rack is the ability to have all 4 bikes on the rack and tilt the rack down to get into the hatch of the vehilce. The manufacture could provide an extention to the lever so that when the rack is setup for 4 bikes it can be tilted without the assistance of another person. Only comes with two child bike adaptors.